HSE has recently released guidance that the requirement for inspections is not being reduced and the statutory obligation remains on the duty holders to comply with legislation and ensure that equipment remains safe for use.

We will be starting to contact all sites where inspections are due to establish access, before a staged return of the team (subject to government guidelines).

01/04/2020

Following the lockdown advice from the government, Sportsafe is now working on a skeleton team, primarily to support our Blue Lamp contracts as we are deemed as key workers. Office workers are working from home where possible and phone lines diverted. Should you be unable to reach anyone by phone please email [email protected]

17/03/2020

We are very aware that there are already some individual school closures and there is a strong possibility of widespread closure after the Easter holidays as the government moves to the ‘delay phase’ of the Coronavirus management.

Our inspectors and repairers are visiting between 2-6 schools per day, so we are taking action to ensure we keep them safe and manage the risk of infection.

What are Sportsafe doing to minimize the infection risk?

When our inspectors and repair staff visit sites over the next 2-3 months, they have been asked to follow the instructions below: –

At the start of each inspection or repair visit ask your permission to use school facilities to wash their hands for the recommended period.

Refrain politely from shaking hands with anyone they meet.

Try to keep a distance of 1m or if the situation permits, 2m from people they meet especially if they or the other person are coughing or sneezing.

Do not wear gloves as protection as they serve no helpful purpose with regards to cross-infection.

Carry tissues if they have a cold and ‘catch it and bin it’.

If they start to suffer symptoms that are consistent with Coronavirus, to take their temperature immediately, call 111 and advise our HR function of their concerns.

What will our office staff do to minimize the infection risk?

We will try to monitor all schools that announce individual closures, for deep cleaning, and track these against the inspection and repair schedules to check whether our staff has entered any schools during the time that the school suffered an infection risk. If they have, we will ask the individual concerned to monitor their temperature daily and be aware of any symptoms. Then if they suffer any symptoms call 111 and our HR department.

What can you do to help reduce the infection risk?

Please advise us if you have closed your school for a deep clean within 14 days of one of our staff visits and please advise us if it is probable that our staff member has met the infected individual then we will ensure our staff takes the government recommended action at the time.

Please advise us immediately if you are closing your school or your school is part of a regional closure demand.

Opportunity to minimise school disruption

If the school is empty of pupils but you have staff working from the school site, please take advantage of the opportunity to have your inspection and remedial works completed whilst there are no pupils. This will also reduce the risk of spreading the infection further and will keep your school’s equipment up to date with its health and safety checks.

Please provide us with the email and mobile phone contact details for anyone who can provide access to the site for inspection and repairs as you would normally do during holiday periods during the ‘downtime’.

If you can approve any quotes for remedial works, then we will also do our best to complete these during any ‘downtime’ the school may have.

If you have separate indoor and outdoor inspection providers, please contact us to do both inspections. It will save you money and reduce the infection risk from multiple contractors entering the site.

Cancellation and No Access policy

If we arrive at the site and the school is inaccessible or we are given less than 5 working days’ notice that access is to be denied then we do reserve the right to impose the denied access/cancellation charge for one engineer/inspector of £90 and two engineers/inspectors of £180.

Please use the email [email protected] to advise us of anything related to Coronavirus at your school.